AMMAN, Al-Yurae- (Reuters) – The United Nations on Wednesday appealed for $144 million to finance the dumping of 1 million barrels of crude oil from a dilapidated tanker stranded off the coast of Yemen, which has been ravaged by years of war and foreshadowing an environmental disaster.
David Gresley, United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, expressed the hope that the Netherlands-backed donor conference in The Hague would result in rapid fund-raising to avoid a disaster on the Red Sea coast and the region.
He told (Reuters) that the amount they are looking to raise is “relative to the potential impact of a spill that would cost $20 billion to remove.”
Gresley said the process should be completed before September when turbulent conditions at sea increase the risk of the ship’s disintegration.
The United Nations said the environmental impact of the leak would be severe with the closure of desalination plants, cutting off the water source to millions of people.
No clear maintenance has been carried out since 2015, when the Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen to fight the Iranian-backed Houthis after they overthrew the internationally recognized government from the capital Sanaa.
The enlightenment process began late when the former Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Yemen called on the countries of the region to take urgent measures to save the region from a major environmental disaster and for the efforts of the British Ambassador Michael Aaron to draw the attention of the world’s countries to the expected risks that would not have been done without his relentless efforts.
In early March, the Houthis, who control the area where the tanker and its national oil company are anchored, signed an agreement with the United Nations to address the problem.
“The first step is to find a way to move the oil quickly to a ship temporarily until the long-term storage problem is resolved,” Gresley said. We are not currently seeking any attempt to sell oil. It’s politically complicated right now.
